Tasteless tourists who post pictures of themselves breakdancing, doing handstands and even performing ballet at a holocaust memorial site where 10,000 Lithuanian Jews were murdered by the Nazis in one day are being shamed online.

The shocking images were taken in front of the mass murder memorial at Ninth Fort in Kaunas, where 9,200 children and their parents were slaughtered on October 29, 1941.

They show tourists grinning happily alongside hashtags such as #happy - apparently oblivious to the gravity of the massacre that took place behind them.

Now activist Richard Schofield has collected the photos, posted under the hashtag #Ninth Fort, to shame the tourists involved and to show that young people are not being educated on the horrors of the Second World War.

Selfies: Tourists are breakdancing, doing handstands and taking selfies at the memorial to the 50,000 Jews murdered in Luthania by Nazis during World War II

Campaign: British photographer and activist is naming and shaming tourists who pose for the tasteless photos at the site of the Kaunas massacre where 10,000 Jews died in one day Pictured: Gabriele said she doesn't believe taking pictures at the death site to be disrespectful

Gymnastics: Many of the tourists doing handstands and posing at the Nazi death site post their sickening pictures on Instagram with the hashtag #Ninth Fort. Pictured: Art student Monika who said: 'Unless it is obvious disrespect like spray painting, writing vulgar comments then it should not be taken as disrespect'

Ignorance: As a man is pictured hanging from the Ninth Fort memorial, many spoken to by MailOnline were aware of the site's dark past - but do not believe they have been disrespectful

Atrocity: In what became known as the Kaunas massacre, 4,273 children and their parents were murdered on October 29, 1941. A total of 50,000 Jews were murdered at the site in Lithuania during the Second World War

Ballet: Some believe the brutal history of Kaunas is being erased by tourists looking for the perfect Instagram post but Gabriele, above, who performed ballet on the monument, says it is more important that 'nobody damages this place and it's kept clean'

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Holocaust memorial campaigner Simonas Dovidavicius, former leader of the Jewish community in Kaunas, told MailOnline he was sickened by the holocaust selfie trend: 'This is terrible. It shows how society is not in contact with what's happened.

'This place cannot be a place of enjoyment and relaxation. I've seen people sitting in the killing fields and having picnics or listening to music. People who were killed there deserve respect and some honour.'

Rabbi Menachem Margolin, General Director of the European Jewish Association, told MailOnline: 'It is one thing to take simple pictures of the memorial for the sake of remembrance, yet completely another to joyously pose in front of the camera with the place of mass slaughter in the background.'

The killings at Kaunus were the biggest single massacre of Lithuanian Jews during World War II.

The condemned were lined up at death site and shot dead before being buried in freshly dug trenches. In total 50,000 Jews were murdered at the site, as Ninth Forth became a Nazi killing station.

But to the horror of 52-year-old campaigner Mr Schofield that brutal history has been has been erased and ignored by tourists to the site posing for light-hearted selfies.

Smiling for the camera, visitors pose in front of the memorial where the victims' bodies lay, seemingly unaware of the mass murders that took place there 75 years ago. Some tourists have been pictured doing handstands, jumping on victims' graves and even performing ballet.

Strike a pose: One model climbed onto the rocky memorial to pose for stylish pictures, something that is heavily discouraged by the Lithuanian museum

Warning: The museum's director Jurate Zakaite told MailOnline: 'We try to stop selfies being taken because we think it's disrespectful to those who died here.'

Tasteless: Campaigner Richard Schofield said Lithuania is letting down its young people by not educating them about the Second World War as a male student poses gleefully in front of the museum's titanic jagged rocks, posting a photo using hashtags including #War and #Smile

Mr Schofield was prompted to take action by pictures like one of two teenage girls gazing into their camera for a selfie with the hashtag #Winterwonderland.

In another on the website two male friends grinned in front of the monument with the hashtags #happy and #day.

Another shows a man clinging onto one of the monument stones alongside the hashtag #hangingout.

Perhaps most disturbingly, despite museum bosses trying to discourage it, most of those MailOnline spoke to, knew what happened there – and didn't feel they were being contemptuous of its past.

Julija struck a model pose in front of the monument. She said: 'I knew we were taking pictures in a place where thousands of people were killed.

'But I don't think it's bad to make memories of visiting this place by taking pictures.

She added: 'It's more bad mannered to take wedding or birthday pictures there.

Sarune posted a photo of her laughing in front of the monument – and said: 'Taking selfies and photos isn't disrespectful. The place itself is full of monuments that are really beautiful so I think that it is normal to take photos.'

Misjudged: Laura, who posed with a friend, above, said she understood the place's 'tragic' history but believes making memories with a picture is not disrespecting what happened there

Ignored: Another gymnastics loving Instagram user failed to mention the memorial or the holocaust victims in her post and hashtagged #BestWork #Nature and #Gymnsatics instead

#Love: The monument has also become a photo opportunity for holidaying couples who pose lovingly in front of rocks, which Mr Schofield said wouldn't happen if they had been educated

Their views were shared by Gabriele, who posted a photo of her doing ballet at Ninth Fort on Instagram. She said: 'It's not ill-considered to take selfies there. it's more important that nobody vandalises the monument and keeps it clean.'

Rytis, the tourist pictured hanging from the memorial, admitted: 'It lacks respect, I think, but I don't care about it too much, because it's a monument.'

The museum's director Jurate Zakaite told MailOnline: 'We try to stop selfies being taken because we think it's disrespectful to those who died here.

'It's very strange that they know the history but still do it. If we catch them we ask them to stop. It's forbidden to climb on the monument.'

Mrs Zakaite gave permission for Lithuanian rapper Vaiper Despotin to record a music video at the site because the song was about the number of people who had died there.

But the museum boss immediately regretted it when the video featured a Yeti and a woman in tight black leather trousers.

Julia Mozer, spokeswoman for the CEJI A Jewish Contribution to an Inclusive Europe which is based in Belgium, slammed the visitors' activities, telling MailOnline: 'Taking happy selfies in front of Holocaust memorial sites is disrespectful and hurtful. Education that develops an appreciation for the impact of the Holocaust is absolutely essential. Memorial sites should also be monitored to prevent such exploitation.'

Defence: Blogger Karolina, above, posted pictures of her on the monument, and said: 'Some people will say its disrespectful, in my opinion there is nothing wrong taking selfies there'

Mr Schofield said his campaign to raise awareness, which includes going into schools to educate children about the holocaust to raise awareness has been positive.

The project is 'designed to begin breaking Lithuania's dominant Holocaust taboo and to encourage the next generation of the country's leaders and decision makers to start dealing with this difficult subject,' he said.

'We're not here to shame these young people. We know they're mostly good kids like most kids are. The problem lies with the Lithuanian State, which continues to let its young people down by not teaching them the full story of the Holocaust. '

Rock climbing: This is one of several people to post photos of themselves climbing the monument, which has prompted Mr Schofield to campaign to raise awareness of its dark past

Shamed: Mr Schofield, 52, originally from Newhaven in Sussex, has named and those who pose in front of the rocks and post it on social media because he wants more respect to be shown. Pictured: Two female friends laugh as the pose in front of the 75 year old memorial

Mr Schofield, from Newhaven, East Sussex, has been living in Lithuania 16 years. He is the former editor of a travel guide for Central and Eastern Europe and stayed in Lithuania because he liked it there.

As a photographer with a keen interest in history he began documenting Jewish life and became aware of how little was being taught about the Holocaust in schools and how little people knew about it.

He set up the NGO International Centre for Litvak Photography in 2015, one of the projects of which is Fifty Schools, which according to his website aims at working with '50 secondary schools around the country as part of an ambitious educational project to publish a unique e-book about Lithuania's sadly forgotten Litvak history, heritage and culture.'